Weft-replenishing mechanism for looms



Dec.10, 1929. A. A. GORDON WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS 2 Sheets-Sheet Filed June 13, 1928 Hflorne S Dec. 10, 1929. A. A. GORDON 1,739,225

WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Filed June 13, 1928 V 2 SheetsSheet 2 m y M Patented Dec. 10, 1929 TJNETE STATES PATENT OFFICE ALBERT A. GORDON, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR TO CROMPTON & KNOVTLES LOOM WORKS, OF WORCESTER, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS WEFT-REPLENISHING MECHANISM FOR LOOMS Application filed June 13,

This invention relates to improvements in weft replenishing mechanism of the kind designed primarily for the weaving of multicolor filling and it is the general object of the invention to provide means for converting a multicolor weft replenishing mechanism so that the same may be employed for weaving with'filling of a single color.

In patent application Ser. No. 263,468 filed by Molloy and Belisle there is shown a device which converts a multicolor stationary magazine into a single color replenishing mechanism. That device includes a sheet metal attachment which is guided on.

the magazine frame and is effective to bring about transfer on the second beat of the loom after indication of weft exhaustion irrespective of the longitudinal position of the color slide] The mechanism shown in said application, however, requires the use of a pattern mechanism to give the necessary longitudinal movements of the color slide so that transfers may be distributed among the several parallel stacks of reserve bobbins. It is an important object of my present invention to accomplish the general result set forth in the aforesaid application without requiring the use of a box motion or pattern mechanism. While it is true that a loom which is ordinarily provided with multicolor replenishing mech anism will also have a box motion and pattern mechanism to control the latter, it is desirable not to have the box motion or pattern mechanism in motion when filling of but one kind is to be used.

The stationary magazine for multicolor looms employs two spaced but substantially parallel shafts or rods and it is a further object of my invention to utilize these rods for supporting devices which act to give the color slide a progressive movement which is dependent upon some part of the transferrer mechanism for its motion.

v It is a more detailed object of my present invention to provide the color slide of the stationary magazine with an actuator having a guide portion to embrace a portion of a placer member which may conveniently be mounted on the upper or'rock shaft of 111111- 1928. Serial No. 285,068.

ticolor weft replenishing mechanisms to the end that the parts may be kept in proper angular relation independently of the rocking movements of the color slide and rock shaft.

In the usual multicolor stationary magazine the color slide is moved positively in one direction by connections to the box motion or pattern mechanism and is moved bv a spring in the opposite direction. I find it desirable to eliminate the spring when I dispense with the connections to the box motion and it is accordingly a further object of 'my present invention to provide means for moving the color slide positively in opposite directions longitudinally of its axis. V

- It is to be understood that the'loom to which my invention relates will operate with but one shuttle, even though drop F 1g. 2 is a vertical section on line 2-2 of Fig. 1, v

Fig. 3 is a vertical section on line 3-3 of Fig. 1, r

Fig. 4 is a top plan view taken in the direction of arrow 4, Fig. 1,

Fig. 5 is a vertical section on line 5-5 of Fig. 4:,

Fig. 6 is a diagrammatic development of a cam which forms an important part of my present invention, Fig. 7 is a horizontal section on line 77 of Fig. 2 on areduced scale, and

' Fig. 8 is a detail front elevation of one of the vertical slides, taken in the direction of arrow 8, Fig. 1.

In the drawings a loom frame 10 is represented as supporting foot 11 of the inner plate 12 of a weft replenishing mechanism of the multicolor type shown herein as eapable of storing four stacks- ,of different kinds of reserve bobbins. IA transferrer arm 13 is pivoted on the usual stud Hand by meansofmechanism not shown but well understood is given a downward movement toward the shuttle S on trans'ferringbea'ts of the loom to replenish the filling in said shuttle.

The plate 12 is provided with a plurality of flanges 15 which define.compartmentsiforithe stacks of different kinds of bobbins designate'dat A, B, O -and D,-'the bobbinsbeing arranged: in the order-,enumeratedfrom front to back of the replenishing mechanism. Cooperating with each stackof bobbinsis a vertical slide and as shown herein there are four-of these slides'16, 17, 18and 19*which correspond, respectively, withthe bobbins A,EB, C and D. The lower endof' each of said slides cooperates with a. cradle" 201 and these-cradles operate to release-the lowermost bobbins of the stacks sothat they may passztortransfer position nnderthetransferrerarm 13'. Each of said vertical slides'has upperzanddower lugs 21 and 22, respectively, by =means of Whichsaid slides may beraised' and lowered to cause oscillation of the cradles 20'.

The device for raising and lowering said slides includes aso-called color-slide employing in its construction -.a 10'd'23' 3lid21bl8 .in bearings 24 formed preferably as parts of the frame 12. Secured-to said rod 23 'isa casting 24 having a pair of spaced lifting and depressing fingers 25 and 26. Said; casting 24 is provided with a pair-of spaced-hubs 27 and 28 which arelocatedrespectively.at

the front and rear ends of 'said'casting 24' and through .which the rod 23 passes. The aforesaid lifting'fingers may .if desired extend from said hubs.

By means of a vertically movablerod 29 acting under the influence-of the detecting mechanism, not shown,: the-fingers25 1 and .26 are moved downwardly on every alternate beat of the local when the shuttle; ison' that side of=the loom opposite the replenishing mechanism, and said rod 29 is eifectivenpon substantial, exhaustion; ofweft: to lift the finers or give the color slide a right, hand'oscilatien as viewed in :Fig. 2., The color;slide will be in one of four; positions in the particu- 'larlform ofthe, invention shown lIBI'GlIIgSO that one or another of the fingers 25 or-;26-will be ,infeperatiive position. withrespect5to the'lugs of one; of,theyerticalslides. ;By this arrangement when the fingers-move upwardly as described one of the verticalrslideswilkbe raised to initiate movement eta-the lowermost-bobbin the previously raised vertiQaLSlidezWi-ll be depressed so that the bobbin previously acted upon will move to transfer position.

Immediately prior to transfer it is necessary to set the latch, not shown, so that motion derived from the lay may be communicated to the transferrer arm and it is also desirable to move the shuttle feeler into position so that transfer may be prevented if the shuttle is not properly boxed. Thesejtwo separatefunctions are performed by mechanisms controlled by the vertical slides and in order to effectthi-s control each of said vertical slides is provided with a dog 30 which is normally in the retracted orfull line position shown in Fig. 8. When the slide is moved upwardly tofthedotted line position shown in said figure the dog movesontawardly to the dotted line position. When'in thispositionzthe dog "will overhang one or another of two shelves '3'1. and 32 which areboth'securedwto the rock shaft '33. by: means of set screws 3.4, dependent "thereof will-engageone or the other of the previously mentioned shelves to rock the shaft i 33 in a :counter-cleckwise direction as -;viewed.in:Figs. 2 and ikt'the completion o fthe transferring strokeor upon: the" lifting softhezshuttle feeleriwhen the'shnttl-e is improperly placed through the-rod 37 the rock shaft will be restored to normal-posi ion, but

this latter; operation takes place only after the actuating vertical slide has moved downwardly farwenongh to move the; dogattached thereto to inactive position as shown in full lineszin 8.

The mat-terthus far -d esoribedis of com monconstrnction with'theexception that as ordinarily made ;;the color slide 23 islonger than that shown herein-rand the shelves .31 and 32aareord1nar1lyeast together. ;I-.may, howi ever, use the ordinary form of shelf modified to -accommodate mechanism-rte 'be described hereinafter; ,For alfurther description ofthe mechanism and operation;.;thereef, reference mayheihad itofiyon ZPatent Ne. 1,030,748.

Thevparts 31, 32 and 33-may betermed-a control memberinasmuch as they control-the shuttle fe eler-roc l;37 the. transferrerlatch not shown.

.Aswpreviously stated ny --invcntion relates to means for drawingbobbinsin; succession zfronnthe se era st c s, an int r y rng the invention into'effeot Lprovide whaalterm an actuator fQP'tlIQQQQlQY slide a-ndwa placer for saidvactuatorzwhi may re nvenien ycbe a sociated with the aforesaid rock shaft 33. The actuator 40 is provided with a hub 41 which extends between and engages each of the hubs 27 and 28 so that there will be no horizontal lost motion between the hub 41 and the color slide as shown in Fig. 7. The hub is loose on the rod 23 so that the latter may have its usual angular movements Without interference by said hub 41. Extending upwardly from said hub is an arm 42 having a pair of spaced fingers 43 which in effect form a yoke. Secured to said arm 42 and located preferably between the fingers 43 is a pin 44 on which is mounted for free rotation a roll 45.

The pla er member 46 includes a barrrel 47 which is mounted for free rotation on the rock shaft 33 and has the left hand end thereof as viewed in Fig. 4 limited as to longitudinal movement to the left by the hub of the shelf 32. Said barrel is provided with a cam groove 48 into which extends the roll 45. The barrel is of such diameter as to substantially fill the space between the fingers 43 so that the latter operate to hold the actuator in fixed angular position relatively to the rod 23 and shaft 33 for all longitudinal positions of the color slide.

In order to rotate the actuator 40 I prefer ably secure thereto a ratchet 49 as shown in Fig. 3 and provide a pawl 50 which is pivoted as at 51 to a rock lever 52 mounted for free movement on the rock shaft 33 and having a hub 53 through which said latter shaft passes. A depending arm 54 of thelever 52 is connected to the upper end of a rod 55 the lower end of which is pivoted as at 56 to the transferrer arm 13.

In Fig. 6 I have shown diagrammatically a development of the cam groove 48 as it would appear when looking in the direction of arrow 6, Fig. 2. Said groove will be seen to have a dwell 60 adjacent the ratchet 49 and a second dwell 61 adjacent the shelf 32. Said dwells are connected together by inclined runs 62 of a sufficient length to permit the roll 45 to assume two different positions between the dwells.

In order to hold the placer in correct angular position I provide a notched disk rigid with the ratchet and barrel and provide further a yielding lock 71 which is adapted to enter the notches of the disk.

In operation, it may be assumed that the color slide is in the extreme right hand position as shown in Fig. 1 in which position the roll 45 will be in one or the other of the positions indicated by the dotted circles a in Fig. 6 and finger 25 is in register with the lugs'of vertical slide 16. When a transfer takes place consequent upon indication of weft, exhaustion the transferrer arm 13 will move downwardly by mechanism well understood and insert a bobbin which has previously arrived thereunder into the shuttle S. The

downward movement of the transferrer arm causes a depression of the rod 55 with resultant angular movement of the lever 52 so that the pawl 50 will move the ratchet 49. As shown herein I have provided the ratchet with eight teeth because of the fact that the magazine has four cells and it is desirable to draw as many bobbins from the end cells A and D as from intermediate cells B and C. This turning of the ratchet will cause an angular movement on the part of the barrel 47. Assuming that the roll was previously in the position indicated by the right hand dotted circle a in Fig. 6, the turning of the barrel one-eighth of a revolution will move the roll to the position indicated at b. This of course brings about a longitudinal movement of the color slide through the roll 45 and the actuator and the hub for the latter, so that the lifting and depressing finger 25 will now cooperate with the lugs for the 7 vertical slide 17.

Upon the next transfer an operation similar to that already described will take place to move the color slide to the left as viewed in Fig. 1 so that the finger 26 will 00- operate with vertical slide 18 with the roll 45 in the position indicated at c in Fig. 6.

The next transfer will result in moving the color slide to its extreme left hand position as viewed in Fig. 1 with the roll 45 in the position shown at cl.

In order that as many bobbins may be drawn from the stacks A and D as are taken from the intermediate stacks B and C it is necessary to keep the color slide in the position last described for another transfer, and it is for this reason that I provide the dwell 61. Subsequent transfers will operate to move the color slide and hence the controlling fingers thereof to positions in an order the reverse of those just described. As the loom continues to run, therefore, the color slide is caused to move in such a way as to draw bobbins uniformly from the several stacks of the magazine.

Reference to Fig. 2 will show that the fingers 43 are provided with inner surfaces 75 which are substantially concentric with the barrel 47, these surfaces cooperating with the barrel to hold the roll in correct position and being of suflicient extent 'to perform their function for all positions of the groove 48.

From the foregoing it will be seen that I have provided simple mechanism for converting an ordinary multicolor weft replenishing mechanism so that the same may cooperate with filling of a single color. t will also be seen that the control of the color slide is independent of the box motion and is dependent solely upon the operation of the transfer without departing from thespiritand. scope of the invention and I do not wish to be limited tothe details herein disclosed, but what I claim is:

1. In a weft replenishing mechanism operating with a pluralty of stacks of bobbins, a longitudinally movable color slide to determine from which stack transfers shall take place, transfer mechanism, a control member movable about afixed axis which is substantially parallel to the longitudinal movement of the color slide, means to be rotated by thet-ransfer mechanism about the fixed axis and supported by the control member and presenting a closed cam slot extending along the fixed axis and also about the latter, and an actuator cooperatively related to the slot and operatively connected to the color slide to cause movement of thelatter as the cam slot rotates about the fixed axis.

2. In a weft replenishing mechanism operating with a plurality of stacks of bobbins, a longitudinally movable color slide to determine from which stack transfer shall take place, transfer mechanism, a control member movable about an axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal movement of the color slide, a barrel'rotatably mounted about the fixed axis and supported by the control member, said barrel having a closed'groovetherein which extends along and around'theibarrel, means cooperating with the groove and operatively related to the color slide to cause the latter to move longitudinally as the barrel is rotated, and connections from the transfer mechansm to cause rotation of the barrel.

3. In a weft replenishing mechanism operating with a plurality of stacks of bobbins, a longitudinally movable color slide to determine from which stack transfer shall take place, transfer mechanism, a control member movable about an axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal movement of the color slide, a barrel supported by and rotatable about the axis of the control member, connections with the transfer mechanism to cause rotation of the barrel, said barrel having a substantially cylindrical surface in which is located a groove which extends around and along the barrel, an actuatormovable longitudinally with the color slide and including a yoked element to engage aportion ofthe cylindrical surface of the barrel to prevent angular movement of'theactuator, and con- J IlGQtlOllS between-the actuatorand the: groove It will further be seen that the to cause longitudinal movement of the color slide as the'barrel is rotated.

4. In a weft replenishing mechanism operating with a plurality of stacks of bobbins, a

longitudinally movable color slide to determine from which stack transfer shall take place,- transfer mechanism, a control member movable about an aXis substantially parallel -to the longitudinal movement of the color slide, a barrel supported by and rotatable about the axis of the control member, connections with the transfer mechanism to cause rotation of the barrel, said barrel having a substantially cylindrical surface in which 1S located a groove which extends around and along the barrel, an actuator movable longitu ,dinally with the color slide and including a yoked element to engage a portion of the cylindrical surface of the barrel to prevent angular movement of the actuator, and connections between the actuator and the groove to cause longitudinal movement of the color slide as the barrel is rotated, said yoked element to engage the barrel on opposite sides of the groove.

5. In a weft replenishing mechanism operating with a plurality of stacks of bobbins, a

longitudinally movable color slide to determine from which stack transfer shall take place, transfer mechanlsm, a control member movable about an axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal movement of the color slide, a barrel supported by and rotatable about the axis of the control member, means the barrel isrotated, said actuator being held against movement longitudinally of the axis of the barrel by the walls except at such times as the latter is rotating.

6. In a weft replenishing mechanism operating witha plurality ofstacks of bobbins, a

longitudinally movable color slide to determinefrom which stack transfer shall take place, transfer mechanism, a control member movable about an axis substantially parallel to the longitudinal movement of the color slide, two pairs of vertical slides forming :parts of the replenishing mechanism, there be n -a space between the pairs, sa1d control I mem er including two cooperating elements one for each pair of slides, a barrel'supported by and rotatable aboutthe axis of the control member, connections from the barrel to the transfermechanism extending between the elements for the pairs of vertical slides, and means to cause longitudinalmovement of the color slide as the barrel is rotated.

77. In a weft replenishing mechanism operating with a plurality of stacks of bobbins, a

longitudinally movable color slide to determine from which stack transfer shall take place, transfer mechanism, a rotatable element operatively connected to the transfer mechanism to be given an angular movement on each operation of the transfer mechanism, and means connecting the color slide and rotatable element whereby the latter causes positive movement of the color slide in opposite directions.

8. In a Weft replenishing mechanism operating with a plurality of stacks of bobbins, a longitudinally movable color slide to determine from Which stack transfer shall take place, transfer mechanism, a member operatively related to the transfer mechanism to be given a plurality of angular positions by successive operations of the transfer mechanism and means connecting the member and color slide to move the latter positively in opposite directions as the member rotates, said means preventing movement of the color slide longitudinally except at such times as the member also moves.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto affixed my signature.

ALBERT A. GORDON. 

